GYMNASTICS: RHYTHMIC gymnast Francesca Fox has moved one step closer to realising her Olympic dream after winning a place in the junior Great Britain squad.

At 13 years of the age, the pupil of John of Gaunt School, Trowbridge, will this weekend be one of the youngest competitors at the Coupe D'Opale, an international gymnastics tournament, with representatives from 23 countries.

Francesca will compete in four individual disciplines, the hoop, the ribbon, the rope and the club, and her points will be combined to give a score in the overall competition. A treble gold medallist at the Junior British Championships in November, Francesca qualified for the event at an assessment day during a week-long training camp at Lilleshall.

She said: "They were supposed to pick two girls to compete in France, but I was the only one they chose. "I was really excited when they told me, but I didn't want to show it because the other girls were disappointed." Francesca does not expect to add to her impressive medal tally in Calais, but hopes to use the competition to gain experience at the elite level.

She is already a member of the Great Britain potential squad, which identifies gymnasts with the prospect of competing at international level. She said: "This is the first time I have been asked to represent Great Britain. "I'm not expecting too much because some of the foreign girls will be very good, especially the ones from Russia. "This event should help to build my confidence. My hopes and dreams are to compete at the Olympic Games, so this will be good experience for me. If I see some routines that I like then I will write them down and practice them when I get home."

This will not be Francesca's first experience abroad however. Last year she was a double medallist at a club tournament in Hungary, where she took the bronze in both the club and overall categories for the City of Bath Rhythmic Gymnastics Club. She also won a silver medal in the overall category at a competition in Norway.

Francesca trains six days a week and has taken time off school to realise her dream. She has had to juggle more school work than ribbons in her short career and last week missed her mock SATs because of the training. Francesca suffered a minor setback before Christmas when she narrowly missed out on a place in the England squad for the Commonwealth Games.

As first reserve for the three-woman squad, she will be keeping a close eye on proceedings in Melbourne in case one of her team-mates picks up an injury. Said Francesca: "I will be watching the games while I'm out in Calais just in case I'm needed. If I do get the call I will have to throw everything in my suitcase and fly half way across the world."

Her mother, Ann Fox, said: "I'm very proud of Francesca and I know she is chuffed to bits to be representing Great Britain. "She's got all these dreams and it's quite scary when they start coming true. There has been lots of blood, sweat and tears along the way but it has all been worth it."